http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/09/20/jones-afghan060920.html
We have to do everything for you?
We have to do everything for you?
So what ARE you doing to fight terror, America
- Thread starter MMike
- Start date
i thought we went for the food...
...and I'm bringing the plastic sporks and cups.
Hey, Ive met and interviewed that guy before.
not so fast!
headline reads: "Canadian-led offensive may have killed 1,500 Taliban fighters"
iraq still may have wmd.
besides, i thought afghanistan was now a nato effort
Oh please.
Iraq does NOT have WMD....
What a sad argument......
Iraq does NOT have WMD....
What a sad argument......
I wish to poke at him with a stick.
do you live off trollbait? damn you're easy....like a sunday morning.
The Australian SAS are there too.
are they fluffers in the green room or are they actually doing something worthwhile?
Might be time to educate yourself on the Aussie SAS mate. A very effective fighting force. They've been in Afghanistan since 2001, only lost one man- to a mine.
i'm pretty familiar w/ who they are, i just thought the military presence was symbolic - wknd warrior types - not longhair "officially not in country" SF types.
root 'em out (as only aussies can 'root')
The SAS is about as far from a weekend warrior as it is possible to be. If they're in country they won't be there to judge beauty contests.
VB, apparantly you are forgetting that the US army is the bestest is the whole wide world, and even other country's special forces pale in comparison to the average US GI. You can tell because of the amount of friendly fire kills they get. It stands to reason: You must be good if you are confident enough in your victory to help the enemy out so much. Very sportsmanlike to level the playing field a bit.
How about this. the Brit/Aussie/Canadian soldiers can do what they're good at- fighting the war. The American soldiers can do wht they're good at- disenchanting the local population.
Actually i just watched a report on the BBC about that operation, very interesting. Seems like they've done quite a job there.
I imagine the air power part was mostly American while the ground contingent was mostly Canadian/British? Anyone point me to more details.
US military has great toys. It's just that no-one knows how to use them. It's like giving a 4 year-old a Rubik's cube.....
Poor analogy. It's more like going after cockroaches with a sledgehammer- certainly effective, but you're going to mar some floor tile and countertops in the process.
You're more right than you probably know. Only the stuff's not as complicated as a rubik's cube. Things are pretty dumbed down and there's no room for improvization in training a bunch of rednecks, so its either full speed ahead or nothing. Can be pretty effective against another military, but not so against "terrists"
More about what is going on in Afganistan, this from an Australian perspective. Thought it was interesting.
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http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20490184-948,00.html
IN a rugged mountain valley in Afghanistan, the Australian commandos were fighting for their lives under an afternoon rain of rocket-propelled grenades.
The small band of 4RAR fighters were on their way across the Chora valley trying to help another coalition unit under attack when they were caught up in the heaviest battle fought by Australians since the Vietnam War.
The Australians were hit by a sustained barrage from RPGs, mortars and machineguns fired by Taliban guerillas who wounded six of their platoon.
Leaving their wounded on the battlefield, they pressed on, linked up with the coalition force, and saw off the enemy fighters as the sun went down.
"They continued to fight through until the enemy had been neutralised, whereupon they then assisted in co-ordinating what became the largest combat medical evacuation of Australian soldiers since Vietnam," special forces commander Major General Mike Hindmarsh revealed yesterday.
"Despite meeting extremely stiff resistance, the overall operation was a resounding success, with the ACM taking such heavy casualties that the remnants eventually fled the valley.
The commandos' action came at the end of 10 days of pitched battles fought by a 500-strong six-nation force in the Chora valley just 15km north of the Australian special forces base at Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan province.
Commanded by an Australian, the force took on an insurgent sanctuary which had loomed as an ever-present threat - not just to coalition forces but to the nearby township of Tarin Kowt.
The enemy, including well-trained Taliban fighters, were more dangerous than any foe the famed SAS had encountered since the Vietnam War, according to Australian commanders.
The operation saw SAS troopers, 4RAR commandos and US and other coalition forces fan out to clear the valley of insurgents or "anti-coalition militia".
"Overall the Chora valley operation, planned, co-ordinated and led as it was by the Australian task group, was a model of combined arms warfare in an extremely challenging counter-insurgency setting," Major General Hindmarsh summed up.
For years until the Australians arrived, Taliban fighters and local militias had sought safe haven in Oruzgan province far from the reach of the Karzai Government or from coalition forces.
So remote are parts of Oruzgan that when an Australian SAS patrol stopped late last year in a remote valley they were asked, when they stopped to talk to a village elder, "Why has it been so long since the Russians returned here?"
The old man had not heard that the Russians had quit Afghanistan in 1989 and thought the Australians were members of a Russian occupying force.
The story helps explains why this most rugged of Afghanistan's southern provinces remains a haven for Taliban fighters and a huge security challenge, not just for NATO forces in the south but for the Karzai Government in faraway Kabul.
Oruzgan is tough country for warfare - physically demanding, with temperatures ranging from 50C in summer to freezing in winter.
Major General Hindmarsh says the harsh remote terrain is an environment tailor-made for guerilla warfare.
It has also been the scene of the most sustained period of combat action by the Australian army since the 1970s.
The 200-strong special forces task group which deployed in August 2005 spent 395 days in Afghanistan, including 306 days on operations away from their main base at Tarin Kowt.
They conducted over 100 patrols and were involved in 139 combat incidents ranging from small skirmishes to battles involving hundreds of enemy fighters lasting hours.
With the help of US airpower they are believed to have accounted for hundreds of Taliban and militia fighters.
"They were constantly in danger wherever they went, and rarely a day went by when there was not some sort of contact with the enemy," Major General Hindmarsh revealed.
Yesterday he outlined for the first time the scope of the fighting undertaken by the Special Forces task group during their 13-month sojourn in Afghanistan.
For years Oruzgan has been a Taliban hideout, with its valleys providing ideal sanctuary for guerilla fighters.
When the Australians arrived the mission was to disrupt the Taliban sanctuaries and freedom of movement within the province.
It was not surprising the Taliban reacted aggressively to the arrival of special forces, often for weeks at a time, in their back yard. "It was akin to poking an ant bed with a stick. It did have the desired effect of unsettling them psychologically," Major General Hindmarsh said.
The Australians were regularly able to attack Taliban leaders on long-range operations. But throughout the 13-month deployment the Taliban tenaciously maintained an ability to muster large numbers of fighters and engage in co-ordinated attacks.
Major General Hindmarsh says the Taliban have a structured logistical chain which provides fighters with money and weapons inside and outside Afghanistan.
"Our adversary was armed with every conceivable weapon you could think of, a legacy of years of conflict," he said.
While the Coalition had, interestingly, faced far fewer surface-to-air missiles than the Russians in the 1980s rocker-propelled grenades were routinely used.
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http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20490184-948,00.html
IN a rugged mountain valley in Afghanistan, the Australian commandos were fighting for their lives under an afternoon rain of rocket-propelled grenades.
The small band of 4RAR fighters were on their way across the Chora valley trying to help another coalition unit under attack when they were caught up in the heaviest battle fought by Australians since the Vietnam War.
The Australians were hit by a sustained barrage from RPGs, mortars and machineguns fired by Taliban guerillas who wounded six of their platoon.
Leaving their wounded on the battlefield, they pressed on, linked up with the coalition force, and saw off the enemy fighters as the sun went down.
"They continued to fight through until the enemy had been neutralised, whereupon they then assisted in co-ordinating what became the largest combat medical evacuation of Australian soldiers since Vietnam," special forces commander Major General Mike Hindmarsh revealed yesterday.
"Despite meeting extremely stiff resistance, the overall operation was a resounding success, with the ACM taking such heavy casualties that the remnants eventually fled the valley.
The commandos' action came at the end of 10 days of pitched battles fought by a 500-strong six-nation force in the Chora valley just 15km north of the Australian special forces base at Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan province.
Commanded by an Australian, the force took on an insurgent sanctuary which had loomed as an ever-present threat - not just to coalition forces but to the nearby township of Tarin Kowt.
The enemy, including well-trained Taliban fighters, were more dangerous than any foe the famed SAS had encountered since the Vietnam War, according to Australian commanders.
The operation saw SAS troopers, 4RAR commandos and US and other coalition forces fan out to clear the valley of insurgents or "anti-coalition militia".
"Overall the Chora valley operation, planned, co-ordinated and led as it was by the Australian task group, was a model of combined arms warfare in an extremely challenging counter-insurgency setting," Major General Hindmarsh summed up.
For years until the Australians arrived, Taliban fighters and local militias had sought safe haven in Oruzgan province far from the reach of the Karzai Government or from coalition forces.
So remote are parts of Oruzgan that when an Australian SAS patrol stopped late last year in a remote valley they were asked, when they stopped to talk to a village elder, "Why has it been so long since the Russians returned here?"
The old man had not heard that the Russians had quit Afghanistan in 1989 and thought the Australians were members of a Russian occupying force.
The story helps explains why this most rugged of Afghanistan's southern provinces remains a haven for Taliban fighters and a huge security challenge, not just for NATO forces in the south but for the Karzai Government in faraway Kabul.
Oruzgan is tough country for warfare - physically demanding, with temperatures ranging from 50C in summer to freezing in winter.
Major General Hindmarsh says the harsh remote terrain is an environment tailor-made for guerilla warfare.
It has also been the scene of the most sustained period of combat action by the Australian army since the 1970s.
The 200-strong special forces task group which deployed in August 2005 spent 395 days in Afghanistan, including 306 days on operations away from their main base at Tarin Kowt.
They conducted over 100 patrols and were involved in 139 combat incidents ranging from small skirmishes to battles involving hundreds of enemy fighters lasting hours.
With the help of US airpower they are believed to have accounted for hundreds of Taliban and militia fighters.
"They were constantly in danger wherever they went, and rarely a day went by when there was not some sort of contact with the enemy," Major General Hindmarsh revealed.
Yesterday he outlined for the first time the scope of the fighting undertaken by the Special Forces task group during their 13-month sojourn in Afghanistan.
For years Oruzgan has been a Taliban hideout, with its valleys providing ideal sanctuary for guerilla fighters.
When the Australians arrived the mission was to disrupt the Taliban sanctuaries and freedom of movement within the province.
It was not surprising the Taliban reacted aggressively to the arrival of special forces, often for weeks at a time, in their back yard. "It was akin to poking an ant bed with a stick. It did have the desired effect of unsettling them psychologically," Major General Hindmarsh said.
The Australians were regularly able to attack Taliban leaders on long-range operations. But throughout the 13-month deployment the Taliban tenaciously maintained an ability to muster large numbers of fighters and engage in co-ordinated attacks.
Major General Hindmarsh says the Taliban have a structured logistical chain which provides fighters with money and weapons inside and outside Afghanistan.
"Our adversary was armed with every conceivable weapon you could think of, a legacy of years of conflict," he said.
While the Coalition had, interestingly, faced far fewer surface-to-air missiles than the Russians in the 1980s rocker-propelled grenades were routinely used.
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I fight tetrror by walking up to people with backpacks and saying: "If you think you are going to blow up anything with that pack you'd better think again because I'll poke holes all through your d!ck so when you pee... it shoots out in all different directions!"
And any one that parks their camel at the airport I say: "Dont even think about it or I'll rip off your balls and stick them up your ass so the next time you sh!t... you sh!t on your balls!"
And any one that parks their camel at the airport I say: "Dont even think about it or I'll rip off your balls and stick them up your ass so the next time you sh!t... you sh!t on your balls!"